The Future of Wikiwrimo: I Need Your Help

Wikiwrimo has come a long way from its first edit almost a decade ago. What started out as an longtime unemployed recession grad’s side project has evolved into a 2,000+ page labor of love documenting almost everything about NaNoWriMo’s history, culture, and lore. Back then, much of NaNoWriMo history and culture got wiped every year, and it was easy to lose track of what year such-and-such happened. Past winner certificates and icons. Word crawls. Regions.

It truly is a labor of love. I pay for the site’s hosting and have made over half the edits on the wiki. To be honest I’m a little surprised that number isn’t significantly higher since it feels higher sometimes (although it could be thanks to spam edits). I’ve dug through the Wayback Machine, old emails, old forum posts, personal photos, Discord servers, social media posts, annual reports, tax information, and so much more to collect any and all NaNoWriMo-related information.

I don’t say all this to complain, but to point out a few problems with this setup.

One, the site was designed to be a community wiki for anyone to edit, not just my views on NaNoWriMo. Yes, I can edit anyone’s edits, but anyone else can edit mine. One of the things I made sure to mention during my virtual world tour if people recognized my name was that yes, I’m the person behind Wikiwrimo, and yes they can add to it, but I understand if they wait until December. This leads to another question lurking in the back of my mind that I’ll leave unaddressed for now: who else cares?

Two, there’s no Plan B. As the pandemic has shown, every plan needs a Plan B. Wikiwrimo currently has no Plan B in case I’m hit by a bus or am otherwise incapacitated. If something were to happen to me, the site could die too. That’s a decade’s worth of research, writing, and passion down the drain. It would potentially be recoverable through the Wayback Machine, and I do keep some backups, but there’s no human backup with the knowledge. I am the weakest link to this project, and that’s a dangerous position to be in.

Three, I’m drowning. As I’ve talked about before, there’s a lot to juggle and only so much time. Productivity experts will parrot out that you make time for the things you want to do, and that’s true to an extent. Like being frugal with money, there’s only so much you can do to make the best of your time after you’ve prioritized the big expenses (or time sinks). I make time for my work because it brings in money, we’re stuck in a capitalist regime, and I have financial goals but no Bank of Mom and Dad to lean on. I make time for the wiki because I’ve poured over half my life into the NaNoWriMo community and believe the site has become the best resource out there for Wrimos to learn about NaNo’s history and terms. Heck, Wikiwrimo becomes a second part-time job for a month or two each year when I’m updating all 669 (as of 2020) regions with the previous year’s MLs and regional stats.

In my recent Wikiwrimo adventuring, I noticed that a lot of articles haven’t been updated since 2016 or 2017. Coincidentally, this is around the time I started working more and acquiring a more active social life all around the same time, practically running myself thin to do everything and somehow failing at everything at the same time. I’ve set aside my own goals, like finishing my novel edits, to take a break after burning myself out after marathon editing sessions. This isn’t a sustainable lifestyle, nor is it a sustainable way to run a community site.

So here’s where I ask: I need help.

I genuinely appreciate everyone who had made the other half of the non-spam contributions, even if it felt small to you. Everything you added was something I didn’t have to hunt down and add myself. You are what make the wiki and the wider NaNo community what it is. Thank you.

In order for the wiki to be a growing and thriving resource that remains sustainable, it needs more than one person making the bulk of the content. I don’t expect anyone else to pour as much time into this as I have, but the past few years have made clear that I can’t do this alone anymore.

So what can you do? Here are a few things.

If you see something that’s out of date, update it! All you have to do is create an account.

Tell your friends about the site. Your ML. Your fellow Wrimo friends.

Check out the to-do list and see what you can add. It’s woefully incomplete but it’s something.

Check out the incomplete articles and see what you can add.

Check out articles like the main NaNoWriMo article and see if you can flesh out the history section or anything else where the article looks like it just ends several years ago.

Hopefully, we can build a site that can live long-term and work for the wider Wrimo community. Together.